Posted by Prozac Pro on September 29, 2011, at 13:46:35
In reply to Lithium - Anyone use to augment antidepressant?, posted by jerseygal1 on September 20, 2011, at 15:18:15
> Saw my pdoc today and it looks like we are going to try another strategy. Zyprexa didn't work for me so he recommended trying lithium to try to get a positive response. I also take 100 mg. pristig, 30 mg. remeron, 2 mg. klonopin, and was taking 10 mg. zyprexa. We're going to taper the zyprexa as I begin the lithium. Does anyone have any experience with lithium they can share? Oh, my diagnosis is depression/anxiety but the doctor said I may have something they call dysphoric bipolar II.
>I was a fairly early user of Prozac (1990), and my initial response was akin to that of Peter Kramer's "super-responders." However, I have tried to go off Prozac several times, and on two of those prior occasions, I had major depressive breaks, for which re-introduction of Prozac at higher doses did little. Both times, lithium augmentation pulled me strongly and quickly out of depression.
While I felt some improvement nearly from the first dose, a strong effect kicked-in at 900 mg per day, but my doctor took several weeks to titrate the dose to that level. After wards (1-2 years later), my doc discontinued lithium, and Prozac alone was sufficient to prevent relapse.
I did experience significant weight gain on lithium, but if your depression is serious, that will be the least of your worries. IMHO, lithium is a wonderful drug.
poster:Prozac Pro
thread:997291
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110925/msgs/998250.html